Kidnappers extend deadline for British hostage in Iraq

The chorus of those urging the release of the peace activist Norman Kember was swelled yesterday when the British men freed from Guantánamo Bay pleaded for mercy to be shown.

Moazzam Begg, who spent almost three years in the US detention centre in Cuba before his release in January, said pictures from Iraq of Mr Kember and his three fellow captives in orange suits reminded them of being held by the Americans.

He told BBC2's Newsnight: "It is our sincerest belief that Norman Kember ... and those with him ... were only in Iraq to promote human rights for the oppressed." He added: "We ... hope that our words will encourage you to show mercy to these men and set them free." The appeal came a day after it emerged that a similar plea was made by Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric, who is in custody in Britain.

The deadline for Mr Kember and his fellow hostages' release was extended by two days yesterday. It is believed the captors responded to a statement yesterday by Jack Straw which made clear British officials were willing to talk.

Mr Kember, 74, from Pinner, north-west London, was seized in Baghdad on November 26 with James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, both Canadians, and an American, Tom Fox, 54. Mr Kember had travelled to Iraq as a gesture of solidarity with Christian Peacemaker Team, an international peace group. Last night the Islamic Army in Iraq, another insurgent group, claimed it had killed Ronald Schulz, 40, an American security consultant it was holding.